New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z By Title
Archives: A-Z By Author
Advanced Search

All-Time High Scores
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Books In Our Forums

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed books.

The Know-It-All
One Man's Humble Quest To Become The Smartest Person In The World
by A. J. Jacobs


7.8

based on 11 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 12 votes
read user comments
rate this book

Compare prices at pricegrabber.com

Buy it at powells.com

Buy it at amazon.com

Buy it at amazon.co.uk

Official Publisher Site

'The Know-It-All' chronicles Esquire editor (and NPR contributor) A.J. Jacobs' quest to read every word of all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. That's 44 million words, for those of you keeping score at home.

Simon & Schuster, 400 pages
10/01/2004
$25.00

ISBN: 0743250605

Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Kirkus Reviews

It is all enormous fun. [1 Aug 2004, p.727]

Library Journal Terren Ilana Wein

If you persevere, you can look for some interesting thoughts about knowledge vs. wisdom and book learning vs. emotional growth. [1 Oct 2004, p.80]

Publishers Weekly

Jacobs's ability to juxtapose his quirky, sardonic wit with oddball trivia make this one of the season's most unusual books. [12 Jul 2004, p.52]

The New York Times Janet Maslin

In its own joking way, this book really does seek a working definition of what it means to be smart.

Booklist Mark Knoblauch

Plenty of good fun pours out of this prose. [1 Sep 2004, p.22]

Entertainment Weekly Laura Miller

An entertaining frolic of a book.

Washington Post Christopher Byrd

Plucked with care, the book's facts will provide enough anecdotes to perk up conversations and weather the season's social events.

The Guardian Ian Sansom

For all its upbeat, feel-good filmic potential there's clearly something deeply inauthentic about Jacobs's quest: it doesn't seem like an act of the whole person; it's a gimmick.

Village Voice Darren Reidy

Some tired wit and a predictable "everything is connected" conclusion don't seriously lame his de facto project, this book.

Christian Science Monitor Gary Alan Fine

Alternately eccentric, charming, annoying, amusing, frustrating, and misguided - sometimes all within the same paragraph.

The New York Times Book Review Joe Queenan

Corny, juvenile, smug, tired.

The average user rating for this book is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Adam B gave it a10:
This is quite possibly the funnies book ever written by an Esquire editor. Seriously, though, it's a fun entertaining read, which would be enjoyed by anyone with a soul who doesn't short-circuit at a small amount of profanity.

abby s gave it a9:
This book kept my interest throughout the book...So witty, i was continually laughing out loud!

Marie S gave it a10:
This is an incredibly smart and entertaining read. I often laughed out loud. A great gift idea for your "smart" friends.

Carol P gave it an8:
The funniest educational read I've had in years.

Sandro D gave it a10:
It's the best book I've seen in years.

Alex T gave it an8:
This was a fun book with lots of interesting facts.

The Know-It-All One Man's Humble Quest To Become The Smartest Person In The World by A. J. Jacobs

The Know-It-All
One Man's Humble Quest To Become The Smartest Person In The World
by A. J. Jacobs